This recipe was given to me by a vegan friend I had in college. It is the best bean salad I have ever tasted, and I love it because you can experiment with the ingredients and still have a mouth-watering side dish. I hope you like it!

No-Sugar Three Bean Salad

(15 ounce) can garbanzo beans

kidney beans, drained and rinsed

green onions, chopped

celery,

cider vinegar

vegetable oil

honey

dry mustard

garlic powder

black pepper

onion powder

cayenne pepper

In a bowl, gently mix the garbanzo beans, kidney beans, green beans, green onions, and celery. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, honey, mustard, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. Pour dressing over the salad, and toss gently to coat. Cover, refrigerate at least 2 hours, and gently toss before serving.


When I first made this recipe, my husband and I didn't like it too much. But something told us to try again, and it was a huge success. Here's how we made a recipe that we liked (and so did our family): 

1. Cut the celery into small pieces and use two sticks instead of the one it calls for (this way, every bite has crunch) 

2. We usually prefer green onions over red, white, yellow, etc. But in this case, we found that the extra crunch added by these varieties are essential. We used white onions instead of green, and that made a world of difference. Make sure to mince or dice very small; again, to get some onion in every bite. Eliminate the onion powder.

3. It was too vinegar-y for our taste, so we cut the vinegar down to 1/2 cup and that yielded a better balance with the oil. 

4. Use olive oil, not veg oil

5. Use real minced garlic instead of garlic powder

6. Add salt

7. store the salad in tupperware that you can flip upside down, without leakage. Rotate it at least twice during the marination process.

8. After the salad has had a chance to marinate over night, drain off the excess dressing; otherwise the beans at the bottom will start to degrade.

This sounds like more work than it is, and trust me the result is well worth it!

This is the best bean salad recipe I've tried in a very long time.  I made a couple of substitutions - I used 2 Tbsp. of red onion for crunch instead of celery and then omitted the onion powder.  I also substituted 1 lg. clove of garlic for garlic powder and added 1 tsp. of chopped chives.  The dressing is perfect; not too sweet, just the right tang and the cayenne adds just the right amount of heat.  This has definitely become my favorite.

I would rate this 6 stars = "can it get any better?" This recipe is definitely a "keeper"

I made this yesterday with a few changes and got rave reviews from my friends.   Substituted lima for garbanzo, medium sweet onion sliced thin for the green onions, medium green pepper chopped for the celery, olive oil instead of veggie oil and 1 clove garlic pressed for the powder.  Didn't use onion powder or cayenne pepper. I would recommend to refrigerate it for at least 4 hours and flipping it over or stirring it several times while marinating, but overnite would be even better.

This is an excellent bean salad!  Followed the recipe exactly except used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and omitted the onion powder.  Usually bean salad is too sweet for me but this was great and we loved the little bit of heat from the cayenne!  Only change I might make next time would be to also add some chopped green pepper for another layer of flavor.  Will definitely make again!  Update:  Made it again using about 1/3 cup diced green pepper and black beans instead of garbanzos.  WONDERFUL!

A very good bean salad.  Many are too strong and pickle-y, but the dressing in this one is just right!

I've tried almost every 5 star three bean salad recipe on this sight, I wish I'd started with this recipe because it is the BEST ! I omitted the cayanne pepper  for the kids, this salad is not to sweet like most. Wonderful recipe ! Thank you.

Very tasty dressing to this salad. I added cilantro, radishes, and green pepper. I also used fresh green beans instead of canned for added freshness and crunch. I made this salad for 2 separate dinner guests and both loved it.

I was looking for a bean salad and I found it!  This is great and the dressing is wonderful. However, I did add 1 large clove garlic to the dressing, skipped the garlic and onion powders as I added green and red onions to the beans. Again, the dressing is wonderful and would be great on anything!

1 stalk of celery is way too much for this recipe.  I used only 1 rib the second time I made this, which was a lot better.

I made this dish last night for lunch today...used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, but did everything else exactly as the recipe said. It was easy and tastes great!  Thank you.

I was going to make 'Three Bean Salad I' but because I didn't have all the ingredients, I thought I'd make this instead. To be honest, I think I prefer the other one more - more variety of beans, plus I use fresh cilantro in it, which we really like. I did, however, like the honey and garlic in this one. Next time I will just use the things I like best from both recipes. Thanks!

I needed a recipe so I could add more beans to my diet and found this.  It became a 5 star receipe after I tweaked it.  Since I was only serving a few people, I only used 1 can of Tri-bean blend (use 2 if serving more people), 1 can of cut green beans, 1 diced red pepper, 1/2 med. sized yellow onion very thinly sliced and 1-1/2 tsp. minced fresh oregano I had on hand.  For the dressing, I only used 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive oil in place of the vegetable oil, 2 tsp. country dijon mustard in place of dry, 1 tbs. of minced shallots in place of onion powder, 2 minced garlic cloves in place of powder and of course the honey (use raw honey if you want it really healthy!) - the dressing is very yummy and can use the recipe for salads, chicken or shrimp marinade, etc.  I marinated overnight and eliminated the excess dressing and wow---never thought I would like bean salad this much.

Everyone at our cookout loved this 3 bean salad. I did reduce the vinegar to 1/3 C. and added 2 cloves minced garlic instead of the garlic powder. Oh, I also replaced the green onions with red onion because that's what I had on hand. I loved the addition of the honey. Great recipe!

Really good even with having to make substitutions (I didn't have any cider vinegar, so used red wine vinegar. Also no ground mustard so a tsp of honey mustard took it's place. And navy beans subbed for garbanzo)Everything still great!!

FYI: If you do not know about the structures and break down of beans... beware! Flavors were good, my beans broke down before the first 24 hours. They turned into a slimy, sticky soup like thing. But I will not doc the recipe for that, it was my inexperience with beans. Will try again!

Tastes delicious. I recommend doubling or tripling this recipe if you're feeding a family. Also, you can skip all the mixture of spices and so forth by substituting in a packet of Italian seasoning dressing (following the directions on the seasoning packet). I also substituted black beans for kidney beans and it still tasted scrumptious. This is going to be a regular recipe that I make.

A great summer dish.  Used frozen green/yellow bean combo.  Very light and tasty.

Very good! I omitted the onions and used olive oil instead of vegetable. I also used black beans instead of green (don't care for them). It was delicious!!

It was really good except we thought it had a little too much vinegar. Next time I'll use 1/4 cup instead of 1/2.

This is the BEST three-bean salad I have ever had!  It totally reminded me of the ones my mom used to serve when I was a kid, but the mustard gives it an extra delicious kick.  Will definitely make all summer long!  Thank you so much!

I hesitated to review because I didn't have some of the ingredients but it was soooo good regardless that I couldn't help myself.  I didn't have green onions so I used a small ordinary onion finely chopped.  No cayenne pepper or celery ...we didn't miss them.  No kidney beans but I did have black beans so I put those in instead.  I also added a bit of cilantro and a garlic clove minced even though I added the powder version of garlic too.  Everyone had seconds even the picky eaters.  I'm keeping this one and using it again.  Wonderful dish.

so tasty...not too sweet, the cayenne adds a little "pop".

Loved this. By far the best bean salad I've ever tasted. I added a 2nd stalk of celery (small dice) and cut the vinegar and oil to about 80%. Still plenty of liquid. Delicious after just 2 hrs of marinading, but much better on day 2 after flavors melded.

I am vegan, so I did not add the honey although I suppose I could have added sugar.  I added a little extra onion because I like them and took others advice and only used 1/4 cup of vinegar.  Also, I used garlic salt.
Really good.  You probably could use any bean.

I don't like giving a bad review, but I followed the recipe except for adding fresh garlic and white onions. I periodically tasted the mixture over 15 hours and discovered it had no taste. I went back and added the garlic powder and onion powder that I had not originally used because I was using them fresh. I then added cayenne pepper, which was an optional ingredient. I still was unhappy. Also, I did use the canned green beans as was recommended and felt the texture was off. I would recommend using frozen green beans. In any case, I won't be making this again.

the vinegar was overpowering, I will make again but will cut vinegar in half and use olive oil as another suggests.

I've made this salad on a weekly basis since I found this recipe. I've made it the "original" way and this is what I've changed:
I add about 1/4 more of vinegar (I like it tangy), 
I don't like it with the celery or green onions, and I add a bit of salt.   It's absolutely delicious!!!  I love throwing a little on a green salad or eating it with a bit of blue cheese crumbled on top.  This is a keeper!!!!

I thought this was good and "WOW" so nutritious!  I cut back on the cayenne pepper, only using a couple sprinkles.  I will try more next time.

Great recipe and it so easy to make.  Everyone loved this salad.  I know the recipe is good as is but I tweaked it by: 1) omitting green onion for 1/4 diced red onion; 2) omitting celery; 3) substituting olive oil for vegetable oil; 4) substituting minced garlic for garlic powder; 5) lessening cider vinegar to 1/4 cup; 6) adding a little more honey.

Great basic recipe!  I added 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 c chopped green pepper, and 1/2 c chopped celery also.  It was wonderful.

How can you go wrong with 3 bean salad? It was a good somewhat healthy side dish for our BBQ. I also added white hominy corn as I like those in my salads.

Haven't tried it yet, but my question is, I'm trying to mimic a salad that had artichokes, navy beans, feta, red onion not sure what else. It was a vinegrette dressing of some sort.  Delic!     Would this work well anybody?

Just super - and easy. This is the only bean salad I EVER make.

this was really good! i used frozen green beans (thawed them first), omitted the celery (forgot to buy it), added about 2 tsp more honey and prepared mustard instead of dry (didnt have dry). also didnt let it chill for 2 hours (no time), but it was still really good!! this will become one of our standard BBQ side dishes.
NOTE: some people complain of their being no crucnh, I always make this with fresh green beans (still no celery), problem solved :-)

I like the idea of this recipe but I realized that I don't like garbonzo beans and it was a little too vinegary. Thanks for the recipe, just not my style.

The flavour was good but there wasn't enough juice for me. I would triple the sauce so the flavour goes thru all the beans. Not sure I'd make it again.

Enjoyed this salad and will make again. Really like the dressing because is not as sweet as most we have tried. Will probably use lima beans in place of the chickpeas next time. This type of recipe is quite flexible so you could use any combination of beans.

This recipe was pretty good, none of it was left after the lunch I made it for.  I used red onion instead of green and red pepper flakes instead of ground cayenne because that was what we had on hand.  I did find that the honey would not blend into the olive oil by whisking so I threw it into the blender and that helped.  Thanks for sharing.

All you could taste was vinegar..........

We found this to be incredibly bland as written with 2 hours of marination time. I had to add salt to salvage it (1/4 tsp). I think the basic idea is fantastic, cold vinegary beans, and I might try again with my favorite Italian oil &amp; vinegar dressing. It will probably be better after sitting overnight; the leftovers are going on taco salad so it's not a loss. Thanks for the recipe!

I love 3 bean salad and thought they all pretty much tasted the same but this one is the best! Maybe its the honey instead of sugar? We make it all the time. I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil and usually omit the celery and use real garlic instead of garlic powder

Easy and good.  I added a bit more honey to make it a bit sweeter, but that is the only thing I changed.  Thank you for sharing.  

Absolutely loved this salad. I was tired of paying three ninety nine a pound at the deli counter, came across this one and now saving some money. I substituded vegtable oil for olive oil and added black beans making it a four bean salad.

This is so delicious!  I did cut back the vinegar to 1/4 cup after reading some reviews remarking on a strong taste of vinegar.  I also added a bit of salt and didn't try the optional seasonings. 

Good recipe.  I guess I like my bean salad just a little sweeter so I added about 2 tblsp of Splenda.  I really enjoyed this.  Thanks!

This bean salad was very sweet. Maybe with less honey it would be okay, but my family didn't care for it at all, so I probably won't try it again with modifications.

I love this salad. I use sugar instead of honey and also add a can of corn (drained) and some chopped parsley. REALLY GOOD!!!!

Really great.  My first attempt at 3 bean salad.  Used agave instead of honey, dijon instead of powered, a little less oil and more onion.  Yummy!

Great bean salad...neither too sweet nor not sweet enough.  I used dried pintos and garbanzos, along with canned green beans, and did not have to go to the grocery store because I had everything on hand.  Surprisingly, it was NOT better the second day as some things are...eat it the day you make it.

Just a comment though:  this is NOT vegan.  It has honey in it.

As written this recipes is fairly average, in my opinion.  It is missing something.  I do think it is worth trying and tweaking to your own taste, as it is a good starting point for a salad.

Loved this- didn't even make it to the Easter dinner table as hubs couldn't leave it alone!  Only addition was some minced fresh parsley for a little taste and color.  Love the crunchiness of the celery with the creaminess of the beans.  Will be my go to 3 Bean from now on!

This is very good.  I really like the dressing.  It is a very good idea to drain the beans after they have set in the fridge overnight.  It really does keep the beans from being "mushy".  

I rated 3 stars because a made a few chages with these changes i think it is 5 stars. Omit the green onions, celery, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. Add 1 small chopped onion.  Other then that make as directed. The longer it sits the better. This is always a family favorite the next day.

This recipe was great! The next time I make this recipe I will probably add an extra celery stalk for some more crunch in the salad. Very tasty!

Good recipe but I ended up adding 1/4c sugar to the vinagrette - otherwise it would have been way to bitter.

Amazing salad - made as written and will make again and often!  Thank you for sharing!

I made a lots of adjustments. I used tri-bean can of black beans, kidney beans and pinto beans. I did not use garbanzo, onions or celery. I used distilled white vinegar and red wine vinegar instead of cider vinegar. I doubled the black pepper, cayenne pepper and onion powder. I added a sprinkle of parsley flakes. Topped it with diced avocado and feta. I added 1T lime juice for the avocado when served. Also for good measure I used 1 can whole kernel corn.  This was great I will make it again.

I made per the recipe and let it chill for about 6 hours and was not impressed. Added a little salt and let it sit overnight and it was fantastic!

This was pretty good, but could have used a bit more tanginess for my taste. Next time I will use the full 1/2 cup vinegar as called for in the original recipe. I had adjusted it down based on the most common complaint in the comments. The dressing was smooth and mellow. I think the honey was a great non-sweet touch. But it needed more vinegar.


Also, the green beans were a little mushy (even though I drained the salad after about 5 hours, as some commenters recommended).


And, the garbanzos were hard and bland. Next time I will use canned white beans instead. I also will change canned green beans to fresh or maybe red/pinto beans. The kidney beans were perfect and picked up the flavor nicely.


I like 3-bean salad and want a good recipe. This one has promise, I will definitely use it again with adjustments to my taste as noted.

This is not one of the most flavorful bean salads I've ever eaten, but it was pretty good! I realized I was out of honey after I'd already started to make this, so I used corn syrup instead. I also used regular onion instead of green...that's all I had in the house. All in all, this is a pretty good salad, but I think I would try a different one next time.

it was really good . I made the following changes: I used yellow one small yellow onion instead of the green onion , celery powder , 2 TBS honey not one and just 2 TBS of EVO

This was sooooo good!!  I didn't have honey so I used 2 packets of Equal (my dad is diabetic and I wanted him to try some).  I added fresh minced basil and gaarlic and used sweet onions because I didn't have green.  This is my new favorite recipe!!!  Everyone loved it and it was so easy!!  Thanks!

Try this with some shoepeg corn added in.  I know, its no longer just bean salad, but trust me on this one.  BTW, no can corn, only fresh or frozen.  :)

A bit too tangy so I'd reduce the vinegar next time but there will be a next time.  I also used fresh garlic and didn't add onion (we don't like them).  Left it in the fridge to marinate about three hours, stirred once and it turned out just great.

I loved this recipe but decided to make it out of dried beans first so that I would have an easier time controlling the salt content. Obviously that added to the time needed but the dressing was delicious  It's definitely a 'make the night before' recipe.  I used Northern white beans, black beans, and french cut green beans. Next time I am going to try grilling the scallions first to add a bit of a smokey flavor to it.

This was enjoyed by everyone at my summer bbq. Great side dish! I used garbonzo beans, black beans, and northern white beans. 

Very good! I did use fresh green beans, a little extra honey and red onion for it's sweetness. I'll make this again and again!

This was a great recipe.  Apple cider vinegar and honey are so much better for you than distilled white vinegar and sugar.  I did not use celery but 1/2 tsp of celery seeds instead.  

This was good. I think when making again though I would reduce the amount of vinegar a bit I made this first thing this morning and served this evening so it had plenty of time standing but the vinegar was very noticeable. Going to have to leave the celery out too. I keep sneaking it in and my family keep noticing. These things are just personal taste though. With adjustments will make again for sure. Thanks.

I thought this was great - really tasty, very simple. However, because it has honey, it's not truly vegan. I used agave nectar instead. I also subbed lemon juice for the vinegar, olive oil for the vegetable oil, used the optional onion powder, and omitted the optional cayenne pepper. This was a wonderful recipe - exactly what I was hoping for!

Great easy recipe. Love it. And surprisingly so did my 6 year old daughter.

This was okay.  It was very easy to throw together.  The dressing wasn't bad; a little tangier than I'm accustomed to, but still good.  

Too much vinegar for me. I tried it after a few hours in the fridge- WOW! It was better this afternoon (in the fridge about 16 hours) by far, but I will cut back next time. I did like the combination of the beans though.

Simple to make and oh so good!! We all loved it!

I thought this tasted good and was fast to make. It reminds me of those bean salads in the deli cases. It was a little on the tart side but filling as a side dish.

very good. I have made it just like the recipe, or when I didnt' have green beans, I substituted a different type of canned beans and it was also good

amazing recipe!! I've made this soooo many times!! It's soooo yummy!!

I could not stop eating this!!  It was delicious and EASY!  I made one substitution - olive oil - not for any other reason than I didn't have any vegetable oil on hand.  Oh, I also didn't have canned green beans, so I steamed the fresh ones I had.  Making it again, right now!

The one I have uses both green and yellow beans (canned) and that I personally dislike kidney beans so use garbanzos and black beans and it suits me better that way.  I liked the idea of adding radishes, myself--hadn't thought of them.  The beauty of recipes like this is just finding a dressing that your family likes, and changing ingredients for the salad itself to what you have on hand, what you like, etc. I would like to use fresh beans in summer but haven't managed to remember to do that yet!  Some of the canned ones are so mushy/overcooked at times.

Great way to use some of the garden beans. Also added fresh minced garlic as recommended by others, and diced red onion instead of onion powder. Added chives and parsley, too. The honey is a nice addition, and don't forget to support the work of beekeepers by buying local honey!

I used fresh green and yellow beans from our garden, cooked tender/crisp, and used a somewhat larger portion of them than one can of green beans would have been.

I think this recipe can use some fresh dill weed, basil, tarragon or perhaps even thyme.

This was very good.  I typically don't care for 3-Bean salads, but this is a great mix.  I halved the vinegar and oil (I like very little dressing) and added some green bell pepper.  Thanks!

Yes, this is the 3 bean recipe i keep coming back to. getting fiber is so important and this recipe is a delightful way to fill up the belly and also do good to the body.. it has enough variables to satisfy all.

A hit at the church pot-luck and requested again!  Thanks for this healthy, not too sweet, not too tart, EASY recipe!

Awesome recipe! My only alteration is to make it spicier!

This is the best! Not too sweet and tastes even better the next day. I used fresh green beans and red onion instead of green

This was nice and something I don't normally include as a side. Loved the fact that honey was the sweetener instead of the usual sugar. Kids and hubby enjoyed this dish. Thanks!

A little too strong on the vinegar, but otherwise this recipe was a hit!

This was okay, but a tad on the vinegar-y side.  Everyone at Thanksgiving ate it, but I hd way more than expected left over.  Will try another recipe.

Delicious!  It was a big hit with my book club.  Since there is a lot of the dressing, I added an extra can of green beans the next time I made it.  Very good - especially after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Awesome recipe, made it 3 times since I first tried now. Just like the restaurant 3 bean salad's I have had in the past.    Thanks,  Forest.

I made this for a BBQ we went to, and we showed up late so I had lots of leftovers.  Because this was a nice SPICE twist these beans also made an excellent addition to steak quesadillas!

I actually didn't like the absence of the sweetness - tasted like I left something out.

I've tried making this twice and it is alright but not great. The vinegar is overwhelming (smell and taste). I think I'll be looking for a new bean salad recipe.

I made changes...used balsamic vinegar and olive oil instead.  Also up'ed the amount of garlic and onion powder.  Next time I need to remember to up the amount of mustard also.  Good recipe.

no-sugar three bean salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Servings: 8

Author : QUIRKYIQ

Ingredients

Instructions

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